My portion of the biography will go from where Barak's history of HOK left … Read Full Bio ↴My portion of the biography will go from where Barak's history of HOK left off. Also, just to add a little to the begining pre-HOK stuff. The ROC (Raps On Contact) was doing a demo before the "Rollin' With Strength" tape, and rumor has it he was even working with Mike E Clark for a few songs for this demo. I seriously doubt anyone will ever hear anything from it, but hey it's worth mentioning.

After House of Krazees disbanded due to internal problems involving money, The ROC decided to take his music in a new direction. He gathered up a few friends/local rappers and created a group called The Howse, they're style was still wicked but very different from the eerie tales of HOK. The Howse consisted of Mr. Vitology (AKA Armageddon), The Beast & The Black Widow. They only released a handful of samplers and a full length album called "Esohpromatem" (Metamorphose Backwards). Rumor has it there is an unreleased Howse album out there, but untill there is proof we will never know. The Beast is currently Morpheus of The Indigenous Tribe & The Black Widow is now known as Mizz Korona (she has been around the detroit rap scene for a grip with a bunch of different names, she was also the woman in the parking lot rapping in 8 Mile). The Howse split up for unknown reasons.

The ROC linked up Skrapz, they knew each back in the day from the 2 Krazie Devils project (he was "Crazie" in 2KD). ROC changed his name to Sol and The House of Krazees were reborn. What better way to reintroduce The House of Krazees into the bloodstream of the detroit wicked scene than a sequel to the most well known of the original HOK albums? They began work on Season of The Pumpkin 2 in 1999. Due to problems in the pressing of the album and just straight up not wanting to be rushed the album could not come out on Halloween as planned. They decided to change the name of the album to "The Night They Kame Home" because quite frankly December is not The Season of The Pumpkin. Interesting little fact, the way that Madness & Prozak (Bedlam) met is threw HOK. Madness was the hype man for HOK during the TNTKH shows (running around the stage crazy with a chainsaw) and Prozak was a body guard for them. After this they were planning another album when something happend and they felt they had had enough of Walter's antics. They also had decided that they needed a direction change, something new. So they jumped ship and became HaLFBrEEd.

Virus Independent was created as the new venue for HaLFBrEEd. They also signed Bedlam & F.R.eeze (an old friend of skrapz who was in the group "Demigodz" with his brother Seziure) to the lable. The first sampler was sent out in late 99' to members of the Virus Indy fan club "The Plague." It contained an intro, an outro, "Locked In Bedlam" by Bedlam & "In Our Blood" by HaLFBrEEd. HaLFBrEEd released there first album, which was originally only supposed to be a Maxi Single "Serial Killaz." The album was also re-issued with a new intro in 2000. After doing "Serial Killaz" they got an offer from Siccmade Muzic (which if you don't know is Brotha Lynch Hung's lable who is a nationwide distributed artist, so this meant big things). They dropped "KontamiNATION" on Siccmade and were even featured on the soundtrack of Brotha Lynch Hung's movie "Now Eat!" After realizing that the lable wasnt really doing anything promotion wise or distribution wise for them, they dropped off Siccmade. They wanted to give the old school fans some of that real HaLFBrEEd evilness for halloween and Rage of The Plague was born. Sadly this short EP would turn out to be the last real HaLFBrEEd album. I'm not really sure what happend after Rage of The Plague, but things took a not so wicked turn.

Add F.R.eeze & Subtract the Wickedness to/from HaLFBrEEd and you have the Level Jumpers. Level Jumper were born as a bonus track (Introduction) on F.R.eeze's "The Raw Album." On F.R.'s album they come raw and pretty hard. They since then have changed the approach somewhat, and they dropped 2 samplers to show the fans what it would really be like. It was alot more experimental, and "purified." That's there style Purified Hip Hop. Sol didn't really do much rapping on Level Jumpers first release "Simply Complx" but he did produce it in its entirety. Around the time "Simply Complx" dropped Sol dropped his first solo in quite some time under the name Sol46. "Wormholes" had a very futuristic feel to it, its quite the listen. Fast forward a year or so and it was time for LJ to drop a new album. They didn't feel it was time for an all new Level Jumpers album, so they took a bunch of the pre-simply complx tracks and threw on a few new ones aswell and boom "The Red Pyramid" was concieved. I believe LJ started with a gimmick about some sort of Secret Society, because its mentioned all over The Red Pyramid, but who knows. Sol rapped alot more on " The Red Pyramid."

Back to HaLFBrEEd for a second, pretty soon after The Red Pyramid dropped a few unreleased/unfinished HaLFBrEEd tracks surfaced and were floating aroung the internet all shitty ass quality on a bootlegg album called "Killaz of The World." I'm pretty sure when Sol & Skrapz they were pretty mad, but they saw an opportunity to end HaLFBrEEd once and for all. They dropped "The End" in 2002. It was a sort of best of album, but with a bunch of rare/unreleased and alternate cuts. There are alternate versions of "Die Girl", "Critical Impact" and there is wicked ass alternate of "The Gallery" (which I personally think would of fit on Rage of The Plague alot fuckin' better than that hip hop version). The first run of "The End" had a misprinted tracklisting (due to all tracks not being able to fit on the cd itself). The actual album only has 17 tracks, the back says 20 (Kaoz, Disray & HaLFBrEEd were taken off because they are on "KontamiNATION" which is still in print via Siccmade Muzic).

This brings us to basically the present. The fans of Virus Independent have been wanting Skrapz & F.R.eeze to do solo's again for awhile now. They both decide its time to deliever, Skrapz begin's work on "The 12 Step Program" his first solo ever. F.R.eeze has had a sequel to "The Raw Album..." recorded 10 times over now, but his attempt at a solo evolves when he meets 3 local DJ's who are up and coming. Mr. Pickles, Picture Tone & Second Hand. F.R.eeze changes his name to "Dialtone" for the group project and "The Formless Figures" are formed. They release a self titled album (with features from both Sol & Skrapz). F.R. is supposedly going to finally release "The Raw Album...Leslie Swisher" and he is working on a brand new solo as "DialTone" called "A Four Track Mind." The Formless Figures crew have alot going on actually, the DJ's (with the ocasional help from DialTone) are working on two mostly instrumental albums called "Cosmic Handshakes...As The Mood Sways" & "Cosmic Handshakes...The Sinking Ship" and DialTone is also writing a book entitled "His Name Is Arthur..."

Sol on the other hand has since left Virus Indy and has gone back to that ole wicked shit. The ROC was reborn when Twiztid asked him to join them on "The Green Book Tour" and since then ROC has been at both of Twiztid's Fright Fest's. HOK has played sets at both of them. It's almost like the old days again. At Fright Fest 04' The ROC dropped his newest album a collection of unreleased shit/left over tracks from 95 to 03. "Bits & Pieces Vol. 1" was originally only intended for the collectors but that shit is selling like a hotcakes! ROC is currently working on a full length solo called "Oh Hell No."

I Ain't Dead Yet
The R.O.C. Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I begged her not to go, said I could not live without her
She said don't be dramatic, you'll survive
She drove away, the sky turned gray
I cried all night about her
I'm still breathin' but her leavin' hurts more
Each day I'm alive

If I can't live without her, how come I ain't dead

Six feet down in the cold, cold ground
With a stone above my head
But somethin's wrong 'cause now she's gone
And I live on instead
If I can't live without her, how come I ain't dead

I wake up every mornin' scared to open up my eyes
Don't know if I'll be there in the mirror
But there I am, a broken man
I look somewhat surprised
I'm grateful for another day
But amazed that I'm still here

If I can't live without her, how come I ain't dead
Six feet down in the cold, cold ground
With a stone above my head
But somethin's wrong 'cause now she's gone
And I live on instead
If I can't live without her, how come I ain't dead

Saint Peter's waitin' for me outside the pearly gates
But I'm waitin' on the angel band, I guess they're runnin' late

If I can't live without her, how come I ain't dead
Six feet down in the cold, cold ground
With a stone above my head
But somethin's wrong 'cause now she's gone

And I live on instead
If I can't live without her, how come I ain't dead

Overall Meaning

The R.O.C.'s song "I Ain't Dead Yet" explores the emotional pain of heartbreak and the struggle to move on. The lyrics begin with the singer begging his lover not to leave him, insisting that he cannot live without her. However, she responds by telling him not to be dramatic and that he will survive. Despite her reassurances, the singer's world is turned gray when she drives away and he spends the night crying about her. He is still alive but her leaving hurts more each day.

However, the singer questions his own feelings, wondering why he isn't dead if he truly cannot live without her. He reflects on waking up every morning scared to open his eyes, unsure if he'll even see himself in the mirror. He describes himself as a broken man who is grateful for another day but amazed that he's still here. The chorus repeats the same question, with the added twist of Saint Peter waiting for him outside the pearly gates, but the singer is waiting for the angel band, suggesting that he's not ready to die just yet.

Overall, the lyrics of "I Ain't Dead Yet" reveal a complicated mix of heartbreak, confusion, and resilience. The singer is experiencing intense pain from his lover leaving him, but he's also questioning whether his feelings are genuine. He's struggling to find a reason to keep living even though he feels like a broken man. However, there's a sense of hope in the fact that he's still alive and still waiting for something good to happen.

Line by Line Meaning

I begged her not to go, said I could not live without her
I pleaded with my partner not to leave me, claiming that I wouldn't be able to survive without them

She said don't be dramatic, you'll survive
My partner dismissed my dramatic plea, reassuring me that I'll be able to carry on alone

She drove away, the sky turned gray
As my partner departed, the world around me seemed dull and gloomy

I cried all night about her
I spent the whole night crying over the loss of my partner

I'm still breathin' but her leavin' hurts more
Although I'm still alive, the pain of my partner leaving feels unbearable

Each day I'm alive
Despite the pain, I continue to live and face each new day

If I can't live without her, how come I ain't dead
I'm questioning why I'm still alive if I claimed to be unable to live without my partner

Six feet down in the cold, cold ground
I'm referring to being buried in a grave after death

With a stone above my head
A grave marker would be placed above my burial site

But somethin's wrong 'cause now she's gone
Despite my claim that I couldn't live without my partner, they've left and I'm still alive

And I live on instead
I continue to survive and live, even though my partner is no longer with me

I wake up every mornin' scared to open up my eyes
I wake up each day with a sense of fear or uncertainty about what the day will bring

Don't know if I'll be there in the mirror
I'm unsure if I'll be able to face my own reflection and the pain of my partner leaving

But there I am, a broken man
Despite my fears, I see myself in the mirror and feel broken by my partner's departure

I look somewhat surprised
I'm surprised that I'm still alive and able to face another day

I'm grateful for another day
Although I'm in pain, I'm thankful for the opportunity to continue living

But amazed that I'm still here
Despite my pain and struggles, I'm shocked that I'm still alive

Saint Peter's waitin' for me outside the pearly gates
I'm referencing the gates of heaven and how Saint Peter serves as the gatekeeper

But I'm waitin' on the angel band, I guess they're runnin' late
I'm jokingly implying that I'm not ready for heaven yet and waiting for a musical group of angels to show up

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: HARLEY CAMPBELL, SHAWN CAMP, TIMOTHY PAGE O'BRIEN

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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